The Quantitative Assessment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA)14 Biofilm Surface Coverage on Slippery Liquid Infused Polymer Surfaces (SLIPS)

Slippery, porous polymeric antimicrobial surfaces for biofilm attachment inhibition of the clinical strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA14) have been prepared. Porous BMA-EDMA, characterized for its hydrophobic properties, was infused with a slippery liquid creating a hydrophobic liquid interface and characterized by water contact angle and SEM. A low shear force bioreactor was used to prepare biofilms on these antimicrobial surfaces. Biofilm attachment was studied using fluorescence microscopy coupled with image analysis in ImageJ. While the literature presents that these slippery polymers work well as antimicrobial surfaces for several strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, it has been found to be strain dependent. This report demonstrates that slippery surfaces do not work well for the strain PA14, and biofilm covered >3.5 times more area as compared to the control glass surfaces.